The cerebellum is sadly not the part of your brain that allows you to hear bells. It is the part of your brain that allows movement, and the regulation of your equilibrium. However, before we talk about that, let’s introduce ourselves.

Our team consists of four hardworking members. Emily, the team leader, was given the most loyal personality type, and keeps track of all documents and dates. Ishajanek, the resource investigator, was given the most contemplative personality type, and helps mostly with researching. Jenie, the doer and actor, was given the most persuasive personality trait, and works on actually compiling documents, as well as helping present our information. Capri, the monitor and evaluate, was given the most independent personality trait, and helps make sure that everyone is on task, and edits our documents. We are The Legos and with our diverse team we are doing the best research and creating the best work we possibly can.

Now, back to the Cerebellum. The brain is the hardest working organ in your body. It is full of complexities that we don’t fully understand yet. However we do know the basic parts of the brain. The Cerebellum is responsible for every single movement you take. The word ‘Cerebellum’ literally translates to ‘little brain’. It is posterior to the brain stem, and makes up about 10% of your brain’s volume. It contains at least half of your brain’s neurons. The cerebellum is divided into two hemispheres (left and right), and is covered by gray matter known as the cortex.

Imagine if you were unable to do the easiest tasks, if you couldn’t even point at things anymore? That’s what the Cerebellum helps regulate. If the Cerebellum endures a TBI (traumatic brain injury), it can impair one’s gait (the way someone walks), lack of coordination and unsteadiness, decreased muscle tone, tremors, and abnormal eye movement.

The Cerebellum is a very important part of the brain. Without it, babies wouldn’t have their first steps, we wouldn’t be able to do anything with our bodies. Life would be a daily struggle. People with TBIs that have affected their Cerebellum can barely do anything for themselves. It is important to protect ourselves from these injuries before they happen.

I learned “cerebellum” means “little brain.” It’s fascinating how a such a little part of our brain can control so much. I started thinking about the effects mentioned about getting this specific part of our brain injured and I thought to myself they were little things. As in they wouldn’t really affect our lives but then I started to think about it more and it changed my mind. Not being able to point to something, not because we don’t know how to but because our brain doesn’t allow that movement. At first it seemed like such a small task but that’s why it’s a big deal. Because something as simple as pointing can be can’t be performed because of an injury in such a small part of our brains called the cerebellum.